HARVEYS LAKE — Sixth-grader Bo Voelker did his best to imitate the series of basketball tricks “Swoop” from the Harlem Wizard’s challenged him with at an assembly Monday at Lake-Noxen Elementary School.
“Shake that ball; go around your waist – two times; between your legs – two times; around your head – two times; and hit that nay-nay,” “Swoop” said.
Then “Swoop” tossed the basketball into the air and booty bumped it to the youngster.
Voelker performed the series of basketball tricks, including the booty bump in front of 300 of his classmates, ranging from kindergarten to sixth-grade, who cheered him on.
“Swoop,” also known as Dwayne Simpson, has been a member of the Harlem Wizards basketball team since 2007.
On Monday, he visited all three Lake-Lehman Elementary schools to promote their upcoming game against the Black Knights team comprised of parents and school faculty at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21.
In previous years, the Harlem Wizards held basketball events at the high school as a fundraiser for the Lehman-Jackson Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization campaign to purchase new playground equipment, which was installed this summer.
The crowd-pleasing fundraising basketball event will now benefit all three Lake-Lehman Elementary PTO groups, said Kristy Ann Mikolaichik, president of the Lake-Noxen Elementary School PTO.
“Funds raised will go to pay for school assemblies, field trips and classroom materials that were not included in the school’s budget,” she said.
After watching Swoop’s basketball techniques and his ability to teach first-grader Grayce VanHouten to spin a basketball on her little finger, Nancy Edkins, Lake-Noxen Elementary School principal, knows she is in for a fun game.
Edkins, a former physical education teacher and basketball coach, played against the Harlem Wizards last year.
“It is like going to an event at (Mohegan Sun) arena,” Edkins said. “Similar to a (Harlem) Globetrotter event.”
At the game, there is food for sale as well as Harlem Wizard memorabilia giveaways, she said.
“There is a lot of crowd involvement (at the games),” Edkins said.